I thought the acceptance speeches were great (McConaughey, Lupita, Blanchett, Leto, Lopez/Anderson-Lopez), I didn't care too much for the show itself, though. I liked Ellen's opening monologue, the selfie and the first pizza bit, but then they carried that pizza joke forever. I've still never understood the reason for all the montages that the Pop Culture Happy Hour folks love to call "A Salute... to the Movies!!" And I'd love to figure out what caused John Travolta to butcher Idina Menzel's name so badly.
I thought the Murray Ramis tribute was really nice. Things were decent, great speeches, an EGOT!, only one blatantly wrong award, but the ceremony itself? Eh. Other than the pizza bit, Ellen was mostly a miss, but here's the real thing I don't get: the beginning was stuffed with clips of movies from other years that everyone has seen, the show runs way over, then the big awards feel rushed. And this happens every. single. year.
As a show, it was a catastrophe. The individual moments stood out in spite of the rest of it, like Murray's shout-out for Ramis, the acceptance speeches (esp. Nyong'o and Lopez/Anderson-Lopez) and a couple of the musical performances (say what you will about the overall staging, but the front row interaction segment of Happy was just about the bestest thing ever). Ellen was poorly served by the writers, and the presenters were mostly terrible -- can someone just pay Harrison Ford to stay in Montana at this point? Jamie Foxx did have that one line reading that was either a great bit or a brilliant save from a bad prompter. And the pacing and sequencing was just .... I mean, at one point, they went at least a half-hour without giving out an award. Pushing Let It Go until near the end was really unconscionable - my kids were lucky we'd already gotten news of our school closings, so they were able to stay up.
As for the violence Travolta did to Menzel's name, I've seen several sources suggest that the culprit was his dyslexia (if true, that would mean that he didn't know her name in the first place and tried to read it off the prompter without rehearsing?).
I haven't seen enough of this year's nominated films yet to weigh in on whether the voters got anything wrong. All that said, (1) I felt really bad for Barkhad Abdi, who had to sit through that entire bloated debacle after losing to Leto in the first 10 minutes; and (2) Lupita Nyong'o was the most stunning and luminous of all in attendance, gave one of the most beautiful acceptance speeches I can remember, and I really hope there are a ton of great roles coming her way.
What was up with the tribute to The Wizard of Oz? If you're going to do a 75th Anniversary tribute, everyone knows that 1939 was one of the best years in movie history - why not celebrate all of the best films of that year?
Loved the Ellen pizza bit, even if it went on too long.
I think this was a great year for speeches. Many performers didn't just list a bunch of names, but said something meaningful and touching.
I think the writing staff was part of the issue--noted that apparently head writer was Kristin Gore, who's a very odd choice. The problem with Ellen is that her "mean" jabs seemed out of place and her "nice" stuff wasn't that funny. That said, I'll take her over Kimmel any day (especially the interminable Kimmel bit in the pre-show).
The presenter banter was particularly bad this year, I thought, with the exceptions of the times when folks clearly went off script--let's try and have presenters who have some real relation to Hollywood rather than randos. (Seriously, Jessica Biel is a presenter?)
A bizarre suggestion for a host next year who I think could be interesting and different? Meryl Streep. She's always game when called upon to do small comic bits (and she CLEARLY wanted some pizza last night).
I wish they would just skip the "theme" each year (like "Heroes"??) and just always do a tribute to the Oscar winners of previous years. First segment "winners 75 years ago", second segment "winners 50 years ago", etc. That way we'd be guaranteed that they aren't just kissing their own butts for the entire telecast, but kissing Hollywood as a whole.
It is these "Salute...to the Movies!" things that make the show completely unwatchable. I think you should give "Salutes" to people who don't get saluted very often. I'd drop what I was doing to watch a "Salute... to Key Grips!" or "A Salute to the Guy Who Sets Up a Foley Studio!" That's interesting and worthy of a little attention now and again. A "Salute...to Leonardo DiCaprio!" seems at least unnecessary...
Not to mention that the Salute to (Mostly Male, Mostly White) Heroes montage was pretty egregious in its lopsided focus. And even when it wasn't; well, I'll let John Hodgman take this:
Maybe blatantly wrong was a little harsh. Let's say I was only disappointed with one award. I was hoping to see the Act of Killing get some recognition (although take that with a grain of salt, I haven't seen 20 feet from stardom yet and I want to). It's really something else.
Last summer, I made this silly video for work that was an "In Memoriam" to all the staplers killed by patrons throughout the year. I set it to "Wind Beneath My Wings" because I thought, "What's the absolute CHEESIEST song you could ever, ever use for a necrology, that hasn't already been actually used?"
So I was a giggling fool when Midler came out on stage.
I would love to watch a salute to key grips! I don't hate the clip sequences - if nothing else, they give me inspiration for what I need to stream from Netflix next - but they are pointless. I seem to recall that back in the day, they would do these explanations of people's technical jobs - with costume design, they'd show the development of the sketches and the inspirations. With editing, they'd actually show footage of editors at work. And they've done cool bits with sound or design awards, too. I'd rather watch that than Salutes . . . to People Who Already Make Enough Money!
I'm in the reverse of your position, Jordan (saw 20 Feet and loved it, but want to see Act of Killing). I picked Act on my home ballot by reputation, but was thrilled 20 Feet won.
The Ellen pizza bit was a total steal from Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs serving burgers and fries to the front-row stars at the most recent People's Choice Awards. Sad that the Oscars would steal from the lamest awards show there is. But it's a meta-metaphor for how the movies have completely run out of original ideas.
It was part of a larger thing I did that was the "Stapler Awards" kind of a parody of the Oscars but with Staplers. Here's the whole video, cued up to the "In Memoriam" segment: http://youtu.be/f6V9WdT8OIA?t=1m37s
Please note: It won't play on mobile devices BECAUSE I used "Wind Beneath My Wings." Take it up with Big Music Industry.
Did Spike Jonze beat Fincher to the first VMA/Oscar double?
ReplyDeleteI thought the acceptance speeches were great (McConaughey, Lupita, Blanchett, Leto, Lopez/Anderson-Lopez), I didn't care too much for the show itself, though. I liked Ellen's opening monologue, the selfie and the first pizza bit, but then they carried that pizza joke forever. I've still never understood the reason for all the montages that the Pop Culture Happy Hour folks love to call "A Salute... to the Movies!!" And I'd love to figure out what caused John Travolta to butcher Idina Menzel's name so badly.
ReplyDelete@adeledazim is already on twitter....
ReplyDeleteHer third tweet: "Travolta never bothered me anyway..."
ReplyDeleteI know Springsteen has won both. You mean just looking at behind-the-scenes?
ReplyDeleteThe conversation at our house:
ReplyDelete"Idina Menzel is singing this!"
(pause to listen to Travolta)
"I thought Idina Menzel was singing this. Who the hell is Adele Dazeem?"
(pause to see if this is an unknown singer stepping in)
"Nope, that's her. Is Travolta drunk from hair dye?"
Also Annie Lennox. This is a REALLY interesting double to consider, and I'd look at it more deeply, but I really should be asleep...
ReplyDeleteI thought the Murray Ramis tribute was really nice. Things were decent, great speeches, an EGOT!, only one blatantly wrong award, but the ceremony itself? Eh. Other than the pizza bit, Ellen was mostly a miss, but here's the real thing I don't get: the beginning was stuffed with clips of movies from other years that everyone has seen, the show runs way over, then the big awards feel rushed. And this happens every. single. year.
ReplyDeleteAs a show, it was a catastrophe. The individual moments stood out in spite of the rest of it, like Murray's shout-out for Ramis, the acceptance speeches (esp. Nyong'o and Lopez/Anderson-Lopez) and a couple of the musical performances (say what you will about the overall staging, but the front row interaction segment of Happy was just about the bestest thing ever). Ellen was poorly served by the writers, and the presenters were mostly terrible -- can someone just pay Harrison Ford to stay in Montana at this point? Jamie Foxx did have that one line reading that was either a great bit or a brilliant save from a bad prompter. And the pacing and sequencing was just .... I mean, at one point, they went at least a half-hour without giving out an award. Pushing Let It Go until near the end was really unconscionable - my kids were lucky we'd already gotten news of our school closings, so they were able to stay up.
ReplyDeleteAs for the violence Travolta did to Menzel's name, I've seen several sources suggest that the culprit was his dyslexia (if true, that would mean that he didn't know her name in the first place and tried to read it off the prompter without rehearsing?).
I haven't seen enough of this year's nominated films yet to weigh in on whether the voters got anything wrong. All that said, (1) I felt really bad for Barkhad Abdi, who had to sit through that entire bloated debacle after losing to Leto in the first 10 minutes; and (2) Lupita Nyong'o was the most stunning and luminous of all in attendance, gave one of the most beautiful acceptance speeches I can remember, and I really hope there are a ton of great roles coming her way.
What was up with the tribute to The Wizard of Oz? If you're going to do a 75th Anniversary tribute, everyone knows that 1939 was one of the best years in movie history - why not celebrate all of the best films of that year?
ReplyDeleteLoved the Ellen pizza bit, even if it went on too long.
I think this was a great year for speeches. Many performers didn't just list a bunch of names, but said something meaningful and touching.
Here's hoping Nyong'o doesn't become a "whatever happened to her after she won her Oscar?" story.
ReplyDeleteI think the writing staff was part of the issue--noted that apparently head writer was Kristin Gore, who's a very odd choice. The problem with Ellen is that her "mean" jabs seemed out of place and her "nice" stuff wasn't that funny. That said, I'll take her over Kimmel any day (especially the interminable Kimmel bit in the pre-show).
ReplyDeleteThe presenter banter was particularly bad this year, I thought, with the exceptions of the times when folks clearly went off script--let's try and have presenters who have some real relation to Hollywood rather than randos. (Seriously, Jessica Biel is a presenter?)
A bizarre suggestion for a host next year who I think could be interesting and different? Meryl Streep. She's always game when called upon to do small comic bits (and she CLEARLY wanted some pizza last night).
It was a bit when the Simpsons did it 15 years ago, I assume it was a bit last night.
ReplyDeleteI wish they would just skip the "theme" each year (like "Heroes"??) and just always do a tribute to the Oscar winners of previous years. First segment "winners 75 years ago", second segment "winners 50 years ago", etc. That way we'd be guaranteed that they aren't just kissing their own butts for the entire telecast, but kissing Hollywood as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI think there might not have been the best idea to honor Gone With the Wind in a year when 12 Years a Slave was the presumptive winner.
ReplyDeleteWhich one did you think was blatantly wrong? Just wondering....
ReplyDeleteIt is these "Salute...to the Movies!" things that make the show completely unwatchable. I think you should give "Salutes" to people who don't get saluted very often. I'd drop what I was doing to watch a "Salute... to Key Grips!" or "A Salute to the Guy Who Sets Up a Foley Studio!" That's interesting and worthy of a little attention now and again. A "Salute...to Leonardo DiCaprio!" seems at least unnecessary...
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that the Salute to (Mostly Male, Mostly White) Heroes montage was pretty egregious in its lopsided focus. And even when it wasn't; well, I'll let John Hodgman take this:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/hodgman/status/440334030379421696
followed by
https://twitter.com/hodgman/status/440334078676836352
Maybe blatantly wrong was a little harsh. Let's say I was only disappointed with one award. I was hoping to see the Act of Killing get some recognition (although take that with a grain of salt, I haven't seen 20 feet from stardom yet and I want to). It's really something else.
ReplyDeleteLast summer, I made this silly video for work that was an "In Memoriam" to all the staplers killed by patrons throughout the year. I set it to "Wind Beneath My Wings" because I thought, "What's the absolute CHEESIEST song you could ever, ever use for a necrology, that hasn't already been actually used?"
ReplyDeleteSo I was a giggling fool when Midler came out on stage.
I would love to watch a salute to key grips! I don't hate the clip sequences - if nothing else, they give me inspiration for what I need to stream from Netflix next - but they are pointless. I seem to recall that back in the day, they would do these explanations of people's technical jobs - with costume design, they'd show the development of the sketches and the inspirations. With editing, they'd actually show footage of editors at work. And they've done cool bits with sound or design awards, too. I'd rather watch that than Salutes . . . to People Who Already Make Enough Money!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the reverse of your position, Jordan (saw 20 Feet and loved it, but want to see Act of Killing). I picked Act on my home ballot by reputation, but was thrilled 20 Feet won.
ReplyDeleteThe Ellen pizza bit was a total steal from Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs serving burgers and fries to the front-row stars at the most recent People's Choice Awards. Sad that the Oscars would steal from the lamest awards show there is. But it's a meta-metaphor for how the movies have completely run out of original ideas.
ReplyDeletePasta EGOT! http://www.buzzfeed.com/jaimieetkin/the-man-behind-let-it-go-now-has-an-egot
ReplyDeleteI want to see this video. It sounds more entertaining than most of last night's show.
ReplyDeleteThat is one of my favorite things ever now.
ReplyDeleteIt was part of a larger thing I did that was the "Stapler Awards" kind of a parody of the Oscars but with Staplers. Here's the whole video, cued up to the "In Memoriam" segment: http://youtu.be/f6V9WdT8OIA?t=1m37s
ReplyDeletePlease note: It won't play on mobile devices BECAUSE I used "Wind Beneath My Wings." Take it up with Big Music Industry.